Smithfield man convicted in indecent assault case
A Smithfield man was convicted of two counts of indecent assault Wednesday in Fayette County Court.
John David Zack, 37, was charged by state police after he fondled a boy and girl over a two-year period in Georges Township.
The children, a boy now 7 years old and a girl now age 9, disclosed the abuse to their mother last year.
Assistant District Attorney Linda Cordaro told jurors that the mother of the children testified that they were both crying and upset when they told her, and reluctant to discuss what had occurred.
The children did not testify. Statements they gave about what occurred were brought in through other witnesses.
“You may convict this defendant based on what you heard the children say through these other witnesses,” Cordaro told jurors.
Before the jury got the case, President Judge Gerald R. Solomon dismissed charges of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and aggravated indecent assault, leaving only the indecent assault charges.
Assistant Public Defender Thomas W. Shaffer said that there wasn’t enough evidence to convict Zack of the two remaining charges of indecent assault, and told jurors that prosecutors were “asking you to make a quantum leap.”
“Do we guess with people’s lives in America? No. You have the burden of proof, which is reasonable doubt,” Shaffer argued.
Cordaro also told jurors that Zack tried to commit suicide when the allegations surfaced, and told a social worker that he couldn’t stop touching children.
“I submit, ladies and gentlemen, there aren’t any questions left except why. Why would someone do this — the sexual abuse of little children — there’s no sense to it,” Cordaro said.
Solomon will sentence Zack at a later date.